Messages

91

The Green Room / Re: thoughts on sharing

« on: Feb 07, 2011, 03:00 am »

The thing is, there is a lot of stuff I DO keep to myself. I'm particularly reluctant to share word docs of my paperwork to be edited, for example. But I think that's valid. I'm happy to send a PDF to someone I'm pretty confident will use it as a jumping off point and not as the actual form, though.

My feeling on the subject is that from what I can tell so far, no two stage managers stage manage exactly alike and while there are SMs I have pretty similar styles too, a lot of that was developed independently from trial and error. I have no problem with people using some of my tactics because they are probably just as likely to come up with them eventually on their own. And having those tactics in their back pockets isn't going to allow them to replicate my style of stage management.

Paperwork on the other hand, is much easier to replicate directly. I think that's why I'm pickier about spreading that around.

92

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Preset before performance

« on: Feb 02, 2011, 01:54 pm »

If I'm working with a crew I know well (or once I am a few days into a run and know what to look for), I'll often stop checking so closely. I like to have the option to check everything and a lot of the gigs I do now are one offs or tours with interns, so I don't always get to get into that groove.

93

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: ASM Calling the Show

« on: Feb 01, 2011, 11:58 pm »

I think that if I were the ASM, I'd ask my advisor if everyone could meet. I think that it shouldn't be up to the asm or the sm and that the faculty shouldn't mutiny the show without getting all sides of the story. I would want to let my stage manager defend themselves against the vague accusations. If the faculty isn't satisfied with the outcome of that conversation, then they will be able to at least make a decision with all the information. Is a meeting with at least the asm and the faculty or the sm and the faculty a possibility?

94

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Preset before performance

« on: Feb 01, 2011, 11:55 pm »

I agree that safety is non-negotiable for me and otherwise I let my preshows reflect the current show. However, I tend to err on the side of a LOT. I like to have every single preshow duty on the list including those of the crews and my asms. I then denote who does what. I divide my to do list by time half hour, fifteen, etc as makes sense for the production, and then at each of those increments I make sure everyone is on track. I also like to use plastic sleeves so i can check off in wet erase markers and then erase and reuse. That way I can write in what time half hour, for example, is for the performance I'm prepping for. I'm pretty intense about preshow, but I tend to hold myself accountable for everything no matter whose 'job' it is.

95

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: school show : sound of music

« on: Jan 31, 2011, 06:31 pm »

Hi Craig. There are a ton of posts about production meetings on the site. If you need information fast, I suggest you do a sitewide search and then ask us some more specific questions on this thread. Here are a couple threads on meeting minutes that might give you an overall idea of what's discussed, and then you can tell us what you need to know more about. Thanks!

http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,1099.0.html
http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,3653.msg27481.html#msg27481

96

The Green Room / Re: First Jobs

« on: Jan 18, 2011, 01:50 pm »

My first paid gig was a DC Fringe show that I got paid a cut of the house to SM between my junior and senior years of college. It was an all a cappella musical about, well, a cappella groups. Got a big mix of people in the cast (a lot of a cappella singers have no experience in theatre itself) and had a particularly crazy venue, but I learned a TON!

...this is assuming you don't count the children's camp version of Chicago I was paid to stage manage between high school and college. Which I try not to.

97

The Green Room / Re: Tax Season!

« on: Jan 18, 2011, 01:45 pm »

I track all of my even potentially deductible expenses and donations (including donations of time to smaller companies--I prefer to ask for a tax write off, rather than accept substandard wages) and send them to my parent's accountant. They've been working with him for so long that I get a good rate and he keeps an eye on me.

98

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Welcome from your moderator!

« on: Jan 13, 2011, 06:59 pm »

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Students and Novice Stage Managers Board.

A little about me...
My name is Bridget Woodbury, I live in the DC area and I'm a full-time stage manager. I got my BA in Theater from the University of Maryland, College Park in May 2010, but I've been freelancing for about a year and a half. I've worked on Opera, fringe shows, mini-tours, equity pieces, concerts, lecture series, all-day symposiums, and a whole lot of theatre. Right now I work at the George Mason University Center for the Arts working primarily with classical concerts and small tours and rentals coming through, but I am able to fit in some freelance PM and SMing. I started stage managing when I was 14, so I have a lot of educational experience and I have a lot of perspective on starting young. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about it!

About the board...
As with other boards, there are some posts stickied about high traffic topics, but there are a couple things here that are a little different. One of them is the Student SM Challenges, which PSMKay I will work on together. They're a great place to start posting if you're new to the boards!

There is also a new topic I'm starting. It's called the SMNet Meeting. It's not a chat, nor its it time sensitive, but it's a place where you can check in once a week (or more, or less) at your leisure, to vent or talk "out loud" about your show. The idea here is to replicate the weekly SM meetings that exist in some college SM programs. Since a lot of programs aren't big enough to have them in person, I'm trying to get a big 24/7 meeting going here! It's one of the things that helped me the most as I was learning and that I miss the most about graduating.

So that's a place without the pressure of starting a whole topic, which I know can be daunting! Please keep the facts and frustrations show/stage management related, but feel free to comment at any time.

Welcome to the board, and remember, everyone here was new once too!

99

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: VENUES: Shakespeare Outdoors

« on: Jan 06, 2011, 04:40 pm »

I did a summer R and J tour outdoors and my big things were:
-Prep for rain: have someone responsible for all valuable equipment and have a priority order
-Be super vigilant about fight call the fight captain and I did each fight at least 3 or 4 times at half and full speed on terrain that's probably very different from where it was taught/rehearsed.
-Do a walk through RIGHT before you start. I had equipment unplugged, props moved, and friends of casts who thought they could stay backstage during the show because there was no stagedoor, so I did a check-in and called places myself then ran back to the boards. That way I could check everything myself and review last minute entrance changes and hear actor concerns in person.

I think the key thing is to be comfortable owning the show: feel free to cut things if they seem unsafe at show time and be enabled to respond and adapt to actor concerns.

100

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Communication problems

« on: Jan 01, 2011, 08:55 pm »

Have you tried setting meeting times way in advance? At the end of this school year, can you sit down and plan out dates for the next season? That way if she's feeling lax about communication or about show choices, you can still do your job and secure spaces. When you're doing this, you should also try to set planning meeting dates. If she balks; remind her of what you agreed on, preferably in writing.

Do you have faculty that can help you enforce deadlines?

101

Tools of the Trade / Books about presenting houses

« on: Nov 18, 2010, 08:00 pm »

So I recently started a full time gig at a presenting house as an asm and I'm looking to start learning a bit more about how tours function. Up to this point, most of my work has been in producing house theatre, so I'm trying to get up to speed. Can anyone recommend a book about presenting tours? I have a great one about production managing that doesn't quite delve deep enough. I'm especially looking to learn about advancing a show. Thanks!

102

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Bad Behavior?

« on: Nov 15, 2010, 12:57 am »

Just wanted to point out that technically, him or her telling you to suck it is sexual harassment. It's up to you whether you frame it as such (especially since you have a better idea of the intent than any of us can), but I wanted to throw it out there to encourage you to pass it along to your superiors (even if you don't want to bring it up as harassment). Odds are, if he's willing to do it to you, he may be making comments/gestures like that to other people who might not be nearly so able to deal with it.

103

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: FORMS: Reports - Getting people to read them

« on: Nov 13, 2010, 12:06 am »

I did want to point out a circumstance in which I did send my reports to actors. I went on a tour where they were responsible for a part of either load in or load out. We cc'ed them on reports so they'd get to know what they'd be working with once we tech-ed. They were way more familiar with the show than they would have been otherwise. However, I DID have to use the funny report tactic. Rather than use quotes or jokes, I usually reported a funny anecdote from the rehearsal or performance. I still hear how funny that tour thought my reports were... from other people.

104

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Blocking Script vs Calling Script

« on: Oct 31, 2010, 03:51 pm »

I do two separate scripts and like others, I put only pertinent blocking to the calls. I do include pre show checklists, run lists, and emergency contacts in my book. I also keep backup backstage run paperwork in the back. I also am really into blocking pages in my prompt book, but write directly on my cue script to keep it as thin and easy to carry around during my pre and post show tracks as possible. It makes it easier for me to give really clear and specific notes when I need to.

105

The Green Room / Re: I can't believe I just had to do that...

« on: Oct 18, 2010, 02:30 am »

I ASMed a production of LaBute's The Distance From Here and I not only had to roll joints, I also had to stuff a baby in a duffel bag, cover it in towels, and set a tape recorder of crying baby sounds to play at the correct volume, then hand it off to an actor to throw into a 'penguin pit.' My parents still ask me if the next play is gonna be 'another baby-killing play.'